


Dresses and Sentiments

by Mosspool13



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Coda Episode 71, Drabble, F/F, Fluff, Holding Hands, Oblivious Jester Lavorre, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 15:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19872025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosspool13/pseuds/Mosspool13
Summary: It's become increasingly obvious to Beau that she will do almost anything for Jester.Now if only Jester would realize that.[Episode 71]





	Dresses and Sentiments

The dress is uncomfortable, and ten times too short for Beau. She's not overly tall, but it shows off way more of her legs than she'd like. She keeps pulling on the skirt edge, trying in vain to pull it over her knees in hopes of covering up _something_ but the thing is small (made for a twelve-year-old, and a twelve-year-old Jester, who is much _much_ shorter than Beau), and it just won't do what she wants it to.

"You good?" Fjord asks her, leaning over in his spot lounging with his legs sprawled out and one hand lazily making patterns in the sand.

"No." She bites out, giving up and sitting down, before having to adjust because _dress!_ not pants, and tucking her legs underneath her appropriately. Fjord snorts when she grimaces and gives her a once-over.

"I'm surprised you let Jester put you into somethin' like that." He comments, inclining his head. He tips an imaginary hat in her direction. "I like the hat."

She tugs on the brim of the wide sun hat. Calianna's bow is wrapped around the circle of the hat, blue and striking and too, too girly. It was soft in her hands when she'd taken it out of the box, her name scrawled in tiny letters on the tag wrapped around it. Jester had taken one look at the bow and clutched Beau's arm, insisting she wear it. Beau hadn't been able to refuse.

She can't refuse Jester anything.

Fjord eyes the bow and gives her a knowing look. He _would_ pick now of all times to be perceptive, the fucker, considering he's still so obviously oblivious to Jester's crush on him.

"Fuck you." Beau hisses at him. Fjord's only reaction is to raise an eyebrow and smirk at her and she shoves him hard into the sand. She may be wearing a dress but that doesn't mean she can't roughhouse in one.

Fjord splutters, there's sand on the side of his face and he wipes his mouth, grit on his chin and Beau laughs at him, emboldened by the spark of annoyance in his eyes. 

Their attention is briefly derailed by Luc laughing, a high-pitched giggle of a sound as he runs after a seagull flapping furiously away from him. Yeza is following at a quick walk, expression a cross of exasperated and wary. Beau looks around for Nott and finally finds her, huddled close together with Caleb, their backs to the sea and their heads bent together. If Beau squints, she can see that Caleb is holding her hands. She smirks a bit, remembering teasing Caleb about his feelings for Nott, knowing full well it wasn't like that between them, but things like _this_ , the two of them, gravitating towards each other, _holding hands_ , it really makes you question.

"You think Nott will... stay here. With Yeza. And Luc?" Beau murmurs, glancing at Fjord who has also noticed Nott and Caleb in their own little world over there.

Fjord shrugs. His expression is too hard to read as his eyes flit back to Yeza and Luc, where Yeza has finally caught up to him and is rubbing a hand through his son's hair. "They're her family." He says, after a long moment. "Who wouldn't want to stay with their family?"

Before Beau can respond, Jester appears, popping up behind her and wrapping her arms around Beau's torso, shocking her and nearly sending her into the sand too. "Beau! You look so pretty!" She giggles and presses her face into Beau's shoulder. Beau's face heats up, hot with an embarrassed flush and Fjord snorts a laugh beside her, hiding his smug smile behind his closed fist. She glares at the side of his head, reaching her hands up to pat Jester lightly.

"T-thanks." She mutters and Jester beams and releases her, bouncing her way over to sit in front of Beau and Fjord. Her eyes are shining.

"I think you should try on dresses more often, Beau! We could go shopping around Nicodranas! I know alllllll the best dress shops!" She perks up. "And if you're worried about fighting, we can get some special dresses you know, like the one I wear! Dresses are good for fighting in too!"

"I mean, I'm comfortable in my own robes..." Beau starts and Jester nods.

"I know, but you would look extra pretty and badass! Well, not to say you don't already, look really pretty I mean, in your robes, and badass because you are always a badass, Beau." Jester praises. She looks at Fjord, beaming, "Right, Fjord?"

"Yeah." Fjord agrees, eyeing Beau with a smirk and when Jester isn't looking Beau flips him a middle finger.

"I'll," Beau winces. She really doesn't care for dresses. They're annoying and they don't suit her, and they remind her too much of her parents and their expectations. "I'll think about it." She says, frowning a little. Jester grins even wider and crushes Beau into another hug that Beau isn't expecting. Beau holds her close for a moment, relishing in the contact more than she should, before Jester pulls away and turns her attention on Fjord.

"You should come too Fjord! We can buy you some clothes too, and go shopping for other stuff--"

Fjord coughs, expression growing harried as Jester continues to prattle away. Beau smirks at his uncomfortable expression. _Karma_ , she thinks, a little meanly.

When Jester finally finishes, to Fjord's eventual acquiescence of, "alright, alright, I'll come!" She stands and announces she'll be returning to the Chateau to chat with her mum. Beau stands immediately, shifting uncomfortably as the dress rides up her back a little--much too short, and much too tight.

"I'll come with you." She says, fast, hoping to get out of the open and to get back to more comfortable clothing.

Jester grins at her and then turns her focus to Fjord, who is still sitting in the sand, sprawled out and lazy. "Fjord?" She asks.

Fjord waves them off. "I'm gonna stay for a bit." He says, nodding towards the ocean. His eyes have a wistful edge to the them, and Beau wonders, briefly, if Uk'otoa has been bothering him lately. He hasn't woken up from any dreams for a while now, saltwater expelling from his mouth. At least, he hasn't mentioned any. Beau eyes him, searching for some sort of tell, but Fjord is hard to read on a good day, and harder to read now, with Jester tugging on her hand and Beau's attention split from Fjord's flat expression and Jester's sunny smile.

"Okay~" Jester says and begins to lead Beau back to the Chateau. Beau follows in step with her, their hands still entangled. Beau looks down, watches the way Jester swings their hands together. With Beau in Jester's dress, and Jester in her own, the two of them could be mistaken for vacationers, or newly weds enjoying the beach. 

As soon as they get back, Beau runs to where she left her clothes folded on top of Jester's bed and undresses, slipping into the familiar weight of her monk vestiges and Cobalt Soul robes, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Beau." Jester calls and Beau turns to her. Jester is standing in the doorway, watching her with a bit of a frown between her eyes. "Did you... really not like it?"

"What, uh--" Beau looks down at the dress in her arms. "It was... kinda small. And tight. And..." Beau refolds it. "And uncomfortable." 

Jester's face falls. "Oh."

"But, part of it is 'cause I was in a dress made for a twelve-year old you." Beau rushes out, awkward. She's always awkward with Jester, it feels like now. She was like a stupid kid unable to talk to her crush. Ever since she'd woken up one night, Jester curled against her side, in their shared room, Jester's head pillowed on her shoulder, snoring lightly into Beau's neck and a tenderness Beau had never felt before had swept over her, assaulting and devastating and terrifying.

It was never like this with Tori, or Yasha or Keg or the other girls she's bedded in the past (she never went to bed with Yasha. Yasha was attractive and mysterious but Yasha was also always gone, and now certainly gone, but also taken, wedded, to a figure in her past. Unavailable). Beau is usually smooth, calm, collected. She doesn't _do_ relationships. She's not a romantic, flowers or chocolates, or dresses and bows and ribbons. She enjoys the sex and leaves in the morning. The closest thing to a relationship she'd had was with Tori, but she doesn't really consider her a girlfriend so much as a mentor. They'd enjoyed each other's company, sure, and gotten up to trouble here and there, kissing in back alleys while hiding from their parents, stealing and coercing people stupid enough to believe their cons. But it wasn't a relationship... it wasn't, sleeping next to each other, Jester's hand curled around her waist. It wasn't sharing snacks across bedsheets, or laughing into the night. It wasn't reading smutty books, or beating up bad guys side-by-side, or wondering what Jester's kisses would taste like.

It wasn't wearing dresses even though you hate them because she asked you to.

It's become increasingly obvious to Beau that she will do almost anything for Jester.

Now if only Jester would realize that.

"I don't... like dresses, Jester." Beau admits, a little crossly. "They remind me of my shitty parents."

"Oh." Jester says, her voice taking on an edge of understanding. "Oh, Beau, if you had said so I wouldn't have made you wear it!"

"I, I know." Beau says, refolding the dress a third time, this time a little more forcefully. "I'm just saying that... well, you're the only one I'd want to wear a dress for." She says, mouth pinched, almost angry.

"That's really sweet, Beau." Jester says, and approaches, taking the dress out of Beau's hands, putting it on the bed and holding her hands in hers. She blinks up at Beau, all guilelessness and charm, and Beau swallows. "But, I like you best in what you like to wear. You don't have to change!"

Beau sighs, and nods.

Jester grins and skips away to the doorway, pausing with her hand on the threshold. "So that's a no to the shopping for dresses then?" She asks, no disappointment in her face.

"I, actually," Beau begins, pauses, and then bites out. "I don't mind going shopping with you. Might find something cool," she shrugs, "who knows." And then she smirks a bit. "We can bully Fjord."

Jester's expression lights up. "I bet he'd look super cool in some of the robes and suits they sell! Some of the really stuffy rich guys that come to see my momma have these really fancy clothes and I bet Fjord could wear them really well, you know." She laughs and chatters away as she leaves, waving at Beau as she goes and Beau watches her disappear around the corner. 

She sighs, returns to the bed and picks up the folding red dress again, eyeing it. She hadn't liked wearing it, but, well, she'd do just about anything for Jester, wouldn't she?

She was so fucking gone on her. 


End file.
